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Vision

To help transition Japan to a peace promoting post-carbon country while enjoying every step of the process.僕のビジョンは、祖国日本で、平和文化を育みポストカーボン（Post-Carbon) 社会を促進してゆく事です。化石燃料や原子力に頼らず、他国の資源を取らない、自給自足な国へのトランジションを実現させてゆきたいです。

Monday, October 24, 2011

This is a post about the Northwest Permaculture Convergence I recently attended in Oregon. The organizers said over 450 attended (or registered?) and there were probably over 50 workshops during the weekend. There was a solid emphasis on urban and suburban permaculture with much reference to social permaculture. I'll try to do an English write up but there might some some good write ups already on the net.

You can read the schedule and the bios of the presenters including a summary of the presentation on the Northwest Permaculture Convergence homepage below.

I generally get motivated to do something when two unrelated (trustworthy?) sources endorse it.

Simple man I am.

The workshop I'm facilitating is going to be on Compassionate Communication

(aka Nonviolent Communication).

*Kodo is an amazing taiko drumming group and if you ever have a chance to see them I highly recommend it. You can get a sense of their practice from the beautifully made video on their website. The apprentices go through a rigorous program of meditation, gardening, cleaning, traditional arts practice, singing, movement, and drumming on the culturally unique island of Sado.

The official description of the conference:

Peace as a Global Language will be held on October 22nd - 23rd at Konan CUBE in Nishinomiya (Kansai), Japan. PGL 2011, Peace without Boundaries, appeals to all those wishing to come together and work towards peace. The Conference offers an exciting line-up of presentations, workshops and posters focusing on peace activism and education. PGL also hosts a photo exhibition and workshop featuring the works of internationally-renowned photographers spreading the message of peace. We aim to include the voices of the young, the old and the excluded: the community here in Nishinomiya, through a number of collaborative projects; university students, who will lead a workshop on peace for teenagers, culminating in the creation of peace banners and murals; and the underprivileged around the world, through a Peace Banquet to benefit Table for Two

Friday, October 7, 2011

Below is a quote I came across while reading the "Communication that Blocks Compassion" chapter of Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life.

“I have thought for a long time now that if, some day, the increasing efficiency for the technique of destruction finally causes our species to disappear from the earth, it will not be cruelty that will be responsible for our extinction and still less, of course, the indignation that cruelty awakens and the reprisals and vengeance that it brings upon itself…but the docility, the lack of responsibility of the modern man, his base subservient acceptance of every common decree. The horrors that we have seen, the still greater horrors we shall presently see, are not signs that rebels insubordinate, untamable men are increasing in number throughout the world, but rather that there is a constant increase in the number of obedient, docile men.”

This quote in Marshall's book was embedded in an explanation about how we deny responsibility through a language he calls, Life-alienating Communication (as opposed to Life-connecting Communication).

He claims that we deny responsibility for actions when we attribute the cause to,

vague impersonal forces

our condition, diagnosis, personal and psychological history

the actions of others

the dictates of authority

group pressure

institutional policies, rules, and regulations

gender roles, social roles, or age roles

uncontrollable impulses

"Life-alienating communication both stems from and supports hierarchical domination societies...[and] has deep philosophical and political roots."

I believe they have removed the map and replaced it with the following explanation,

We have discontinued our Flexpart forecast of the atmospheric dispersal of radionucleides from Fukushima. This due to the fact that we do not have access to reliable release rates reflecting the current situation at the plant to be used as input to our simulations. It is likely that the release of radioactive material is significantly reduced compared to the initial period, and that levels no longer pose a health risk at distance from the plant.

The Hoax

Its a cool looking map but I couldn't find the original source,

and a quick search on the internet lead me to numerous sites claiming

this was not made by any official organisation like the NRC or

ARS (other versions include an ARS logo).

The popular label is "Hoax map."

For a lazy information consumer like me,

its tricky not to be enticed by glossy official-looking information like this.

Especially since the map confirms my own ideas about what has happened,

making me less critical of the information I'm receiving.

In psychology we call this "confirmation bias."

Sometimes I am able to keep myself in check,

and luckily,

I have others making sure I don't mislead myself too far.

My perennial big questions is

who can we trust for reliable and accurate information,

particularly for politically and emotionally charged issues like nuclear fallout?

Welcome!

ようこそ！

You have arrived to a bilingual blog about sustainability, permaculture, and peace activism. Yeah! Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.Thanks for visiting and I hope you spread the seeds:) *the ratio of English to Japanese changes unexpectedly so if there is a lot of strange foreign characters, check out older articles might have the more familiar alphabet.

About Me

A "half", as they call us in Japan, who grew up in metropolis and rural Japan, Hawaii, Santa Cruz CA, Central America, and now Orcas Island WA. Taking a stroll through the path of permaculture, mindfulness, and love. Looking for more like-minded people in Japan or people interested in transforming Japan...
百姓／平和活動家／パーマカルチャー・デザイナーのヒヨコです。ブロックス・パーマカルチャー・ホームステッド（ワシントン州のオーカス島）で弟子入り生活をしていましたが、今は東京で平和と愛を育む活動をしています。先生、仲間、プロジェクト、土地を捜しています！